DENTON – North Texas head basketball coach Tony Benford has announced the signing of former Texas A&M standout and Bryan High School all-state guard J-Mychal Reese.

Rated by ESPN.com as the state’s top point guard and the No. 7 point guard in the country coming out of Bryan in 2012, Reese, a 6-1, 173-pound guard, played 39 games for Texas A&M over the last two seasons and earned 25 starts. He poured in 6.3 points and dished out 1.8 assists per game while shooting 37.1 percent from three-point range in his freshman and sophomore seasons.

"I've known J-Mychal and his family for a long time," Benford said. "I had a chance to work with him at a camp when he was in the eighth grade and was considered the top recruit in the country. I've known his parents for years, and J-Mychal comes from a great family. We couldn't be happier to have them all as a part of our Mean Green family."

A three-time Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All-State selection, Reese was a consensus four-star prospect and top-100 national recruit. ESPN.com rated Reese as the sixth-best recruit overall in the state of Texas and 54th-best player overall in the entire class of 2012. He chose Texas A&M over scholarship offers from several schools, including Kansas, Louisville, Memphis, Baylor and Texas.

"J-Mychal is a tremendous point guard," Benford added. "He's a very cerebral player and can create for anyone on the floor, but still has the ability to make his own shot when he needs to. He’s going to fit in really well in our up-tempo system."

North Texas is expected to request the NCAA grant Reese a waiver to allow him to play this year.

Reese had a solid freshman season for the Aggies that included action in all 33 games, averaging 26.2 minutes per contest. He ranked fifth on the squad with 6.2 points per game, and also tallied 2.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Reese scored a season-high 15 points on four occasions, and had a personal best six assists twice. In all, Reese posted 10 double-digit scoring games in his time in College Station.

"First off, I want to thank everyone at Texas A&M for helping me over the last two years," Reese said. "I really enjoyed my time in College Station. But at the same time, I am really excited to begin the next phase of my career at North Texas. I feel like North Texas and coach Benford are ready to take the next step, and I can’t wait to be a part of it."

Reese joins a highly-regarded North Texas recruiting class that includes a pair of high school state scoring leaders in Louisiana’s Greg White-Pittman and Texas' Jeremy Combs, as well as Muhammed Ahmed, an NJCAA All-American, and Todd Eaglin, who ranked third in the NJCAA in assists last year.